Seasonal and non-seasonal variability of satellite-derived surface pigment concentration in the California Current

Satellite-derived pigment concentrations from the west coast time series (WCTS) are averaged into monthly mean fields over the California Current system (CCS) for the period July 1979 to June 1986. Errors caused by the scattering algorithm used in the WCTS are reduced by an empirical correction function, although winter values (November–February) remain unreliable. For the March–October period we look at both the mean seasonal development and the nonseasonal monthly anomalies of pigment concentration. These are compared with fields of alongshore wind stress, mixing power of the wind (u(3/*)) and wind stress curl. Outside of the Southern California Bight there is a strong seasonal cycle with a spring-summer maximum, a northward progression of high pigment concentrations from California to Oregon and a double maximum off Washington (spring and summer, with a lull in between). Within the Southern California Bight, seasonality is low, with a relative minimum in late summer. Off Baja California the pattern is similar to that off northern California. In regions where previous work has been done, there is general agreement with the seasonal cycles found here